Maths
at work
We all use maths to: budget for our housekeeping; work out prices and
costs; measure how much we need; estimate times; estimate loads
and quantities; calculate percentages and fractions;
sort our money; and so on.
We all use maths to: budget for our housekeeping; work out prices and
costs; measure how much we need; estimate times; estimate loads
and quantities; calculate percentages and fractions;
sort our money; and so on.
Doing
the knowledge Taxi drivers must remember thousands of streets and the shortest route to them. Their memories are very complicated mathematical structures.
Do you know all the street names on your way to and from home and school? See if you can remember:
Ten
percent (10%)We all like to give a tip now and then whether it is to a taxi driver, your hairdresser or a waiter. 10% of the total bill is the usual amount. It's easy to find out how much to give, just move the digits one place to the right of the decimal point. So, 10% of £3.80 is £0.38 or 38p and 10% of £12 is £1.20.
If you wanted to tip a hairdresser 10% on a haircut which cost you £8.70, what would it be?
VAT is a tax which is added to goods and services we buy. Sometimes it has been added already but sometimes we have to work it out ourselves. It is charged at 17.5%, which seems like a difficult amount to deal with. Actually it's easy. Here's how to work it out.
1. Write down the cost of the item without VAT. For example: £2.60 (100%)
2. Work out 10% of its cost. It's easy to divide by 10,
just move all your digits one place to the right. 26p (10%)
3. Now work out 5% of the total cost of the item
(which is the same as half of 10%). 13p (5%)
4. Now work out 21/2% of the total cost of the item
(which is the same as half of 5%). 7p (21/2%)
5. To work out the cost of the VAT, add up your answers to 2, 3 and 4 above. 46p (171/2%)
6. The total cost is £2.60, plus 46p VAT. £3.06 (1171/2%) So, your item will cost £3.06, of which 46p is VAT.
Going
metric A one kilogram (kg) bag of sugar is about two pounds (2lbs): 2.2 lbs to be exact. Work out how many pounds(lbs) the following items weigh.
